Come With Me to the Mountain
by True Colours
Summary: Is there anything that could have induced Ichigo to go with Kish in episode 45? 3rd place in Broadwayobsessedgirl's contest.


**Come With Me to the Mountain**

**A/N: And it's *pant* done *pant*! **

**I can't believe this. The first competition entry I've ever done, and it's LAME! I FAIL. **

**But we mustn't prejudice the judges. :P**

**Seriously though, I have no delusions of grandeur about this fic, so there's no need to flame.**

She had never really realised it before. Never realised that Kish was fighting to the death for her. Maybe she hadn't even properly realised that they were all fighting to the death for the planet. With the repetitive pattern of events, their easy victories and Kish's complete failure to take his official mission seriously had combined to make it feel almost like a game.

But it was serious now. Deadly serious. Killing serious.

Ichigo's head seemed to spin as Kish lunged forward with deadly grace, sending a ball of light shooting from the tip of his sword towards where the Blue Knight stood, clutching his injured arm. She screamed as he flung himself down out of the line of fire, crumpling awkwardly, his face – so proud and sure, and yet still laced with that sweetness that was unmistakably Aoyama-kun – twisting in pain. The shock from Kish's sword slammed into the wall of the warehouse over his head, and the entire structure began to crumble.

As she started forward with a scream, she saw Kish dart past her. The fire in his eyes was easy to read: the Blue Knight would not die beneath falling masonry. Only a clean kill, hand to hand, would do.

She cried out again, both their names mangling together in her panic as the tumbling rubble obscured them. Her sprained ankle turned beneath her, pitching her to the ground with a stab of pain. She crouched where she was, clutching her foot, staring wide-eyed at the collapsing building.

The rubble settled. The dust began to clear.

Ichigo strained her eyes forward. She could make out Kish and the Blue Knight, both standing upright in the wreckage of the warehouse. It seemed incredible, both of them alive, the boy she loved and the alien whose death she knew would shake her, dislike him though she did. But it was too still for a miracle, too tense. She strained her eyes harder.

Kish was standing behind the Blue Knight. One hand was twisted tightly into his blonde hair. The other held a sword to his throat.

'It looks like I win this one,' he observed quietly.

She could feel her heart thump, every beat winding her.

Kish dragged the Blue Knight's head back and raised the sword.

'_No!_' Ichigo screamed.

Kish's gold eyes settled on her.

'No,' she said more quietly. 'Kisshu...please don't kill...the most important person to me.'

'And what will you do, in order to save his life?' Kish asked.

Ichigo's reply came back, breathless and unhesitating. 'Anything.'

Kish nodded slowly. He did not smirk, but no face had ever looked more satisfied than his did at that moment. He released the Blue Knight, who dropped forward onto hands and knees, gasping. Kish paid him no more heed. It was as though he had ceased to exist. He vanished his sword with a flick of his wrist and held his free hand out to her. She felt as though she were swimming through some thick, viscous fluid as she moved towards him. She sensed the stares of the other Mews burning into her back, and the Blue Knight's scorching gaze on her hand as she laid it slowly in Kish's. His fingers curled around hers: the ashen skin, the dead-white nails. With a shuddering breath she turned, meeting the eyes of her Masaya one last time. They were full of shock and sorrow, and betrayal that he couldn't quite hide, no matter how unjustified. She wondered if he would rather have died than seen her go like this.

Then Kish teleported.

Her love, her friends, her home, all ripped cruelly away, to leave...

Ichigo blinked, momentarily distracted from the tears that were about to fall. Where _were _they?

The city was gone. Instead they were surrounded by open space, with a gentle breeze carrying the scent of summer into her nostrils. Looking up, she found that she was standing on a sloping stretch of grass, bathed in late afternoon light. There were dark fir trees in the distance above and below, and closer little belts and groves of the same trees. Overhead the sky was a wide blue arc, and she could make out the peak of a mountain jutting into it. A bird called from somewhere, and she suddenly realised that she could hear silence. No cars, no traffic. Nothing.

'Where are we?' she blurted, wiping a hand hastily under her eyes and looking round.

Kish was still holding her hand. At her question he grinned broadly and replied:

'We're in Europe, in the Alps. Do you like it? I thought it was a good place. I've been preparing this for a while; can you walk far on that ankle, Koneko-chan?'

Ichigo stared up at him, her skin crawling. 'You've been _planning_ this?' she choked. 'What, you've been putting together some kind of place to drag me away to?'

Kish just shrugged, his mood clearly buoyant. 'Of course, kitten, I told you we would go to a place without fighting. Come on, it's just up the hill a little way...' he reached round, gripping under her elbows, and began to lead her along, supporting her weight as she hopped awkwardly.

After a couple of minutes painful progress, they reached a stand of dark firs. Ichigo blinked, taking in the structures standing just on the edge of the trees. They seemed to be two rough cabins, built of fresh pine branches woven together. She could see canvas hangings across the doors and the inside walls, sealing off the gaps against wind and rain.

'What do you think, Koneko-chan?' Kish asked eagerly. He let go of her arms and half-danced, half-flew forwards. 'I've been putting them together in all the time Pai thought I was grounded in our dimension. Left or right?'

'Huh?'

'Do you want the left-hand one or the right-hand one? I think they're pretty much the same, but you can choose, Ichigo.'

'_Why? _What do you think it matters to me? You've taken me away from everything I love, why should I care, why should I...'

Kish moved closer, his smile fading. He reached out and placed a finger under her chin, tilting her face up toward his.

'Choose, Ichigo,' he said softly. Almost pleadingly.

'Fine,' she said. 'Right.'

'OK, kitten, I'll take the left.' The jaunty air was suddenly back, like a switch being thrown. 'Maybe you'll want to go in and look around while I get some wood to make a fire, ne?' With that, he spun on his heel and disappeared into the wood.

Ichigo stared after him for a few seconds. Then her injured ankle gave a throb and she crumpled, buried her face in her hands and began to sob.

* * *

It had shifted from afternoon to twilight by the time Kish returned, carrying wood and packets of food from some unknown cache. By that time her tears had run dry, and she was slumped on the grass, staring numbly at her shoes. Her head felt hot and achy from crying, but she felt blank. She didn't care.

'Are you thirsty, Koneko-chan?' Kish asked, dumping his load and surveying her with a look of perplexity. Suddenly Ichigo felt like shaking him. Why was he so surprised to find her miserable? Did he expect her to be _happy_ about this?

'Yes, Kisshu, I am thirsty,' she murmured dully.

'There's a stream just behind that brake of trees,' he said with a jerk of his chin, already arranging sticks for a fire. Ichigo hobbled off, found the stream and drank eagerly, splashing her face vigorously with water to clear her head and wash away the tears. In front of her she could see the entire valley, bathed in sunset. It seemed unfair that it should be so beautiful, when she was so miserable. She hauled herself to her feet and made her way back to Kish, feeling sick to her stomach.

He was cooking food: typical camping fare, balanced on stones in the middle of the fire. As she sat down he passed some carefully across to her. Her mind was angry enough to have thrown it at her head, but her body was hungry and so, with the same dazed compliance she seemed to be using a lot that day, she began to eat.

'Isn't this great, kitten?' Kish remarked, his mouth full.

She stared at him across the fire.

'I know many of your people visit these mountains, but this particular spot seems fairly deserted to me.'

'You know we can't stay up here forever, Kisshu,' she said, trying to interject some sanity into the proceedings. 'Someone is going to find us eventually. And what if your friends get properly beaten and have to leave? What's going to happen to you then? Supposing they _win_, what will you do?'

'Ichigo.' Kish shook his head slowly, the same half-smile on his face as when he had first asked her to come with him. 'You still don't understand, do you? I don't care anymore. I don't care whose side wins or loses. I just want to be with you.'

'What about when someone comes?'

'Then we can teleport. That's the beauty of it. As soon as anyone comes near this place, you take my hand and we go somewhere else. Even my kind can't tell where we've gone once we've disappeared. We don't need to worry about the rest of the world any more, Ichigo. Once the Cyniclons have this planet, they'll let the wild take back most of the city space, and then there'll be endless places for us to hide. We can go anywhere in the world, live exactly how we like, it'll be –'

'You lying, cold-hearted _bastard_!' Ichigo shrieked.

He looked surprised. 'What?'

'YOU! You sit, there, calmly talking about what it'll be like when the humans have been completely destroyed, and you expect me to _like _it?'

'I told you, I don't care who wins. The humans can stay in control for all I care, I was just saying that it would make it easier for us to hide if my kind had this planet.'

'Easier? And you expect that fact to make me _happy?'_

'You will be happy here, Ichigo,' Kish said, with quiet certainty. 'You will be happy here with me.'

'No I won't!' Ichigo gave a gasp and began to sob noisily, tears of shock and fury. 'You _kidnapped _me, you took me away against my will –'

'It was your choice, Ichigo,' Kish said, his voice suddenly hard. 'I asked you what you would do for me, and you said _anything_.'

'You were threatening Aoyama-kun –'

'I _don't _want to hear that name again!' Kish shouted. 'That boy isn't worth _half_ –'

'You can't tell me what to say and what not to say! And you can't keep me hear! I'll escape!'

'Escape?' Kish's voice had dropped so suddenly that Ichigo froze, afraid. 'Who said anything about escaping? There are no fences around this mountain, Ichigo, and there's a village full of humans at the bottom. I doubt your ankle's up to the walk just yet, but in a few days I'm sure you'll be able to make it down there and get them to understand who you are and what you need. You're not trapped here, Ichigo. I wouldn't have forced you to come here if you'd listened to me. If you'd only understand…'

'I can't understand you, Kisshu! You're _impossible _to understand. You drag me out here and then dance around smiling and talking as though you expect me to be _happy_ about it.'

'But you _should_ be happy, Ichigo!' he cried. 'You _would _be happy, but you won't even _try!'_

On the last word he lunged forward, straight through the glowing embers of the campfire, his snarling face suddenly close and terrifying. Ichigo scrambled backwards, leapt to her feet and fled, ripping through the canvas hanging of her hut. She gained a brief impression of a dimly lit space, light filtering through cracks in the walls and illuminating the matting covering the floor, before she flung herself onto the camp bed and began to weep bitterly. Maybe she would only have to put up with this until her ankle healed – if Kish didn't murder her before then – but somehow she felt that there was no right choice, no right way. She wanted her friends. She didn't know what to do.

* * *

She must have slept, because the next thing she knew it was very dark, and very cold. She shifted a little on the bed, breathing in the resinous smell of pine that she had been too distressed to notice before. She felt oddly calm, almost peaceful. No matter what else, the mountain was beautiful. Maybe she could stand it for a while, and then...eventually...she could persuade Kish that they had to go back. He would surely realise that eventually, and decide that his people were worth more than chasing after her. In fact, Ichigo realised, this could work out for the best. If she could...not fall in love with Kish, but establish some kind of friendly relationship with him, maybe they could persuade the other aliens to negotiate. Ichigo sighed, smiling for the first time in what felt like years. This could work.

She rolled to the side and encountered something soft and warm.

'_KISSHU!?!?_'

Kish's hand shot to her mouth, but did not clamp over it. His fingers fluttered against her chin for a moment, then fell slowly away.

'Koneko-chan?' he whispered.

'What the _hell_ –'

'I wasn't going to do anything, I swear. I came to look in on you and...and you were asleep...I thought you'd be cold...and you looked so sad...'

Ichigo caught her breath. _I think_, she thought, _that I might be a little crazy._ Slivers of moonlight slipped between the interlacing branches that made up the walls, lighting Kish's eyes and burnishing them silver. His face looked delicate and sincere, and the tenderness in his voice...

She jumped in shock as her ears popped out, but she felt frozen in place, unable to shriek and clamp them down as she usually did. Kish reached forward like a person sleep-walking, slowly curling his fingers into the base of one ear and then pulling her closer, pressing his lips to her forehead.

She was tired, his chest was warm, and when his mouth found hers it seemed to melt her whole body against his. She sank sleepily into his arms, curling against him as he nuzzled into the nape of her neck. She reached out a hand, tugging the blankets tightly around their necks to shut out the cold night air, and then, with his fingers still massaging her ears, and a contented purr building in her throat, drifted off to sleep.

* * *

He was still fast asleep when she woke in the morning, curled into a ball with his green pigtails tangled and sticking to his cheeks. Fingers of rosy sunlight illuminated his skin, giving it a healthy glow. He looked younger than she had ever seen him, vulnerable and – dare she say it – sweet. She found herself smiling as she reached out a finger to gently brush the hair out of his eyes. Maybe, just maybe, this would all turn out OK.

**A/N: Was that, or was that not, the lamest thing you have ever read? Ugh, I am NEVER writing Kichigo again! **

**Well, unless it's your fic, Gypsy-san, or unless I get to kill Ichigo in it. Or unless it's seriously AU. Actually, I've just remembered that I had a pretty good AU that involved Kichigo...but she was quite a rebel in that, and therefore more awesome, plus I could always sheer it off into PxL if I wanted to.**

**Ciao!**

**True**


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